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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: To Save A Scoundrel’s Soul by Fearne Hill (Excerpt)
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RELEASE TOUR: The Attercop by Peter E. Fenton (Excerpt)
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SERIES REVIEW: The Last Grift, Bait and Switch, & Skin Game (Subtle Deceptions Books 1-3) by Elle Keaton
Subtle Deceptions: The Last Grift by Elle Keaton
It’s road trip time. Semi-retired grifter Gabriel Karne is in deadly trouble. If he gets out of this ‘situation’, he’s leaving everything behind and heading someplace where no one knows his name, or his face. Heartstone Island or bust.
The plan is to collect his inheritance and move right along. No one will need to know his past.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine.Less than 24 hours on the island and Gabe’s made an impression on the locals–possibly not the best. A trespassing citation from an infuriating but compelling forest ranger, and he’s interfered with two local good ol’ boys plans. Not a great way to stay off the radar.
Then, when a local goes missing, Gabe offers to help find him.
Being off his grift is the only explanation as to why Gabe would rather focus on a stranger’s bad luck than his own. But the fact is, he’s always had a soft spot for losers.Jim Rockford’s got nothing on Gabriel Karne.
The Last Grift is the first installment in the Subtle Deceptions series, a small town mystery with romantic elements. The series, part of the Piedras Island and Veiled Intentions universe, is written in the third person and follows the unplanned adventures in the life and love of the disreputable Gabriel Karne.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Grifter’s Grief
Artist: Yard Act
Album: Where’s My Utopia?
Subtle Deceptions: Bait and Switch by Elle Keaton
Gabriel Karne is back
The plan?
Lie low on Heartstone Island and wait for the dumpster fire that is his past life to burn itself out. So far, so good. Until it isn’t.
Gabriel has avoided Ranger Man for days, made a few important repairs to his sailboat, and put a dent in the stack of dime-store mysteries Elton loaned him. Life is at least okay.
Eight days in and his strategy crumbles like a wet cookie.
His ex-partner-in-crime returns, but this time he is very dead. And wearing a baby blue tracksuit, which somehow makes his murder even worse.
Is his body a message from the crime family they mutually pissed off? Did Peter have connections to Heartstone? And if he didn’t, how the hell did he know he’d find Gabe there?
With yet another exceedingly ill-timed murder, Gabe’s luck is once again not the Good Kind. Then there’s his simmering attraction to Casey, which he’s actively sweeping underneath his mental throw rug. Lundin is definitely not Gabe’s type. He’s a walking-talking moral compass that never seems to cease pointing out everything he’s sure is wrong about Gabe. But damn, that man’s uniform fits him like a custom glove.
Adding to it all, snow is in the forecast, there’s a missing brush worker up the valley, and Calvin Perkins is still on the loose. Gabe’s not even going to think about the spiders.
Everything will be fine. FINE.
Bait and Switch is book two in the Subtle Deception series.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Make The Weather
Artist: The Waitresses
Album: Bruiseology
Subtle Deceptions: Skin Game by Elle Keaton
Gabriel Karne is cautiously optimistic. Life seems to be settling down into a nice even keel.
It’s a new year and the former con artist has a permanent-for-now address. Even Keith-the-cat seems to like it there. No more rickety sailboats and living out of go-bags for Gabriel Karne. No surprises. No dead bodies.
Romance-wise, he and Ranger Man are easing into being a couple. A lifetime of habits is hard to break for both of them but they’re getting there.
Gabe even has a job. Will he regret agreeing to it? Probably but it’s almost legal, so baby steps.
Then a strange young woman claiming to be his long-lost daughter appears on his new doorstep, and she has some sketchy documentation to prove it. It’s not impossible, but Gabe wasn’t born yesterday, and Heidi Karne was his mother, after all.
And another damn letter—this one from a stranger—shows up. The author claims to be a friend of Heidi’s and to have some of his late mother’s belongings. Just great.It’s pretty clear that the past isn’t done with him yet.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Skin In The Game
Artist: Backroad Raised
Album: Skin In The Game
Subtle Deceptions is another series in Elle Keaton‘s interconnected world set in the US Pacific Northwest archipelago. It follows semi-retired con man Gabriel Karne as he leaves his past behind and starts over at Heartstone Island.
The Last Grift is Gabe newly arrived at Heartstone Island to claim his inheritance, a rusty, barely livable boat called Golden Ticket. He immediately clashes with grumpy forest ranger Casey Lundin who turns out to be his pier neighbor. He also meets his late mother’s old friend, the spritely octogenarian Elton, who becomes a father figure to him and Casey.
Gabe’s sordid past seems to catch up to him when a dead body is discovered and he is the top suspect. It didn’t help that he has strained ties with the deputy and his reluctant favorite Ranger Man.
Bait and Switch has Gabe’s ex and fellow con man showing up on his doorstep only to end up dead. Gabe is afraid that the crime family he’s hiding from finally finds him. Also, more missing people that Gabe can’t help but insert himself in the investigation because of his do-gooding tendencies. Meanwhile, Casey is slowly falling under the spell of Charming Fucker who is wooing him with ice cream and persistence.
Skin Game has a young woman claiming to be Gabe’s daughter. But you cannot con a con man and so he rejects her only for the girl to turn up dead. Gabe also recieves a letter asking him to claim his mother’s things and Heidi Karne’s cryptic diaries gives him more questions than answers.
The books should be read in order, each ending in cliffhangers and HFNs. While we also get Casey’s POV, this is firmly a Gabe-driven series. The first book was too slow, with only hints of attraction and mainly antagonistic interactions. The first half is spent setting things up with the second finally getting the plot moving.
But just like Casey, Gabe slowly but surely worms his way to everyone’s hearts and before I know it, this has become a comfort series for me. I loved the idea of a semi-reformed con-man using his grifting powers for good and of course he just has to fall for an LEO.
Gabe was trained in the game by his enigmatic mother. Her presence is so strong that even after death, Gabe hears her in his head reacting to different situations he’s in. Heidi has a way of succintly putting things in persective that punctuates a scene. She is one of the major mysteries in the series, Gabe hardly knowing anything about her that’s not part of a con.
At 44, Gabe might be a seasoned grifter but at heart, he’s a serial do-gooder who operates in grey areas. He has an easy-going, naturally chatty personality that makes people warm up to him. The 30-something Casey, prepared to hate his guts, ends up begrudgingly charmed dubbing him “Charming Fucker”. Tickles me pink everytime he calls Gabe “Charming” and Gabe calls him “Ranger Man”
The succeeding books hit their stride, the romance sparks, Gabe integrates into in town life, and Casey’s brother returns. Elton quickly becomes my favorite character, the formidable old man is protective and sharp, his found family dynamic with Casey and Gabe the beating heart of the series.
The writing is immersive and atmospheric. The plot is slice-of-life mystery, light on the action with mostly Casey and Gabe going about their days. There might be dead bodies, missing people, corrupt cops, petty criminals, and an oft-mention crime family haunting Gabe’s conscience yet the vibe feels cozy to me.
The Delacombes make their appearance when it was revealed Gabe is half brother to Shay (West Coast Forensics) and Niall Hamarsson (Veiled Intentions). WCF is also involved in the investigation of one case. It’s not necessary to read the other series but they’re worth a try. I always enjoy how the author makes the world of Piedras Island come alive.
Subtle Deceptions is an ongoing saga of fresh starts, irresistable charms and inescapable legacies. Slow-paced, and slow-burn, overall, deceptively cozy, subtly compelling, and ultimately comforting.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Last Grift, Bait and Switch, and Skin Game. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
THE LAST GRIFT: Amazon UK | Audiobook
BAIT AND SWITCH: Amazon UK | Audiobook
SKIN GAME: Amazon UK | AudiobookIf you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Jazz Bang Boom by Will Okati (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Duke’s Runaway Omega by Autumn Montague (Excerpt)
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PROMO BLITZ: The Attercop by Peter E. Fenton
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REVIEW: Bright Dead Things by Hailey Turner
Bitter Legacies: Bright Dead Things – Hailey Turner
If the forest stares back at you, you’re already prey.
Bran Gallagher grew up with three rules passed down through his coven: beware forest paths that lead to dangerous mounds, always keep iron close, and never speak of magic.
Cillian Dunne grew up with his mother’s love, his father’s absence, and secret warnings to never trust a witch.
In Pelham’s forest, where bright lights haunt the trees and hunt the lost, there are traditions kept for survival and others out of habit, none of which should be broken.
Bran and Cillian unknowingly broke tradition and ruined each other in the aftermath of a kiss years ago. Reunited in the wake of a family tragedy, they cross paths with something old, something terrifying—something that wants them dead. When Bran’s younger sister is stolen away by a nightmare into the Otherworld, they can only follow and try to keep each other alive in a strange and haunting land.
Trapped in a dangerous Fae Court, Bran learns being a witch comes with a death sentence. To save him, Cillian must fight against those who seek power from a past he has no memory of, and the only person he can trust is the witch who broke his heart.
But it might be too late.
For the Fae have never been kind, and they have always hungered, and this time, what they hunger for is revenge.
Bright Dead Things is the first book of Bitter Legacies, a fantasy series by Hailey Turner, bringing us into the chilling world of witches and fae.
The story begins with two deaths and a missing girl, Aisling Gallagher, sister to Bran, a Pelham witch now living in Boston and childhood friend of forest ranger Cillian Dunne. Estranged since Cillian rejected Bran’s kiss as a teen, the two are reluctantly reunited when Aisling disappears.
Forced to work together, they uncover dark truths in the Otherworld, where fae seek to destroy witches. Bran sacrifices himself to protect Cillian, who in turn discovers a secret that could destroy them both. And they have yet to find Aisling.
Bran, inheriting his mother’s mantle after her murder, is the last witch of his coven. He must guard the forest against grotesque fae-born monsters that lure mortals with lights. The warning often repeated in Pelham is stay away from the lights. These creatures haunt the Weirding, the shifting boundary between human lands and the Otherworld.
I loved the concept of these monsters. They are insidious creations of the fae, heartless predators feeding on mortals. The fae themselves are divided into four seasonal courts, with Summer and Winter at odds with each other. Their elemental magic contrasts with witches’ sigils and witchmarks. The witches are overseen by the Council.
The feud between witches and fae goes back centuries with the fae claiming Pelham forest as their former homeland and the witches keeping them at bay. In the Otherworld, Cillian and Bran experiences the atrocities of the fae. I think in the second book, we’ll see how cold witches can be when the Council makes their demands of Bran.
Trust is a major theme here, Bran was taught never to trust fae, while Cillian was warned against witches. He repeatedly distrusts his supposed allies, thinking only of protecting Bran and Aisling. As things became more dangerous, they learn to rely on each other again.
Their bond is tender and I loved how they became each other’s rock. Bran nearly sacrifices his identity to keep Cillian alive, while Cillian didn’t even think twice to abandon his legacy to remain with Bran and Aisling. They have the makings of a cozy boyfriends dynamic if their world weren’t so perilous.
The part where they were held prisoner by a fae lord gave me mixed feelings. While it’s admirable Bran would do anything to protect Cillian, I felt he capitulated too quickly to the fae lord’s demands. I didn’t feel the threat the fae posed, he just repeated the same one again and again and I thought Bran could have stood his ground more firmly.
Compared to the author’s other books, this is not as action-packed as I would have liked. The action scenes are far in between but they were still fantastic displays of magic. I thought the witchmarks were cool and Aisling’s big reveal was spectacular!
The vibe is wonderfully eerie evoking the desperation of being lost in endless woods. However, the sluggish pacing made the writing feel heavy. I suggest audiobooking this because Gary Furlong’s compelling narration saved this book for me. TBH, I’m not looking forward to experiencing this slowness again in the sequel.
Bright Dead Things is a story of family secrets, ancient feuds, and unlikely alliances. Atmospheric, twisty if slow-paced, overall it’s a dark and deadly unraveling of eldritich lights, secret identities, and the elusive hold of trust.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Trick Of The Light
Artist: Charming Disaster
Album: The Double
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Bright Dead Things. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
BRIGHT DEAD THINGS: Amazon UK
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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NEW RELEASE: Dark Before Dawn by Thom Collins (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Electric Boy by Nicky Silber (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Zephyr by Mychael Black (Excerpt)
